Hi Everyone,
It's been a while since I've posted anything, it seems like I always have several balls in the air, all at the same time. With as busy as our lives are, I have no idea how I once held a full time job and got anything accomplished. There just simply aren't enough hours in the day.
Like I said, I haven't posted anything for some time now, and I haven't gone back and looked at a single posting from the past. It's not that I'm reflecting on any one thing in particular, I just really don't want to go back and re-live it, for me, once was enough.
The title of this posting is "Thank You", and that's what I would like to do. You all have supported us over the past 9 years, and I couldn't be more grateful. Many of you have been on this journey since roughly the beginning, and I could not be more grateful for your love and support over the years, and you know who you are. You've listened to me complain, celebrate, and everything in between, and to my hair stick angels, I love you.
In addition to thanking you, I also wanted to let you know that I'm going to begin slipping into semi-retirement next month. We're finally coming in to the social security age, and the financial pressures of being self employed are finally going to be relieved to some degree.
My hours and lifestyle won't change one iota, that I'm certain of. What I'm uncertain of however is where my artwork can take me. I have had a bazillion ideas bouncing around in my head for what seems like forever, but I've always had to make (and sell) a hair stick to eat and pay the bills. I'm still going to get up between 3 and 4 every morning, and go to my shop, which I'm transitioning into a studio. I've always told Erin that I can't call it a studio until it's over 50% finished, and I'd say that today I'm at 51%... it's taken me 4 years to get to 51%, and I'd like the other 49% to be accomplished by the end of the year. I haven't made any decisions yet about custom orders going forward, as I haven't actually given it much thought. For now, I think I'm just going to play it by ear.
At the end of the day, there is nothing I enjoy more than making a hair stick and talking to our customers, and I always will.
Thank you again.
Doug
